Adlai E. Stevenson II Quotes & Sayings

My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

You can tell the size of a man by the size of the thing that makes him mad. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

Understanding human needs is half the job of meeting them. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

A hungry man is not a free man. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

The human race is a family. Men are brothers. All wars are civil wars. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

In quiet places, reason abounds. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

What counts is not the years in your life but the life in your years. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

Man is a strange animal, he doesn't like to read the handwriting on the wall until his back is up against it. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

She would rather light candles than curse the darkness and her glow has warmed the world.
— Adlai E. Stevenson II

If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is not a barking dog, to be tethered on a ten-foot chain. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

Speaking as a Christian, I find the Apostle Paul appealing and the apostle Peale appalling. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

Newspaper editors are men who separate the wheat from the chaff, and then print the chaff. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the present. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

Change is inevitable. Change for the better is a full time job. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them — Adlai E. Stevenson II

A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

She was the kind of person who would rather light a candle than curse the darkness. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

It's hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

The first principle of a free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum.
(Adlai E. Stevenson, 1900-1965, American Lawyer, Politician) — Adlai E. Stevenson II

In America, anybody can be president.
That's one of the risks you take. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

Someone asked me ... how it felt and I was reminded of a story that a fellow townsman of ours used to tell
Abraham Lincoln. They asked him how he felt once after an unsuccessful election. He said he felt like a little boy who had stubbed his toe in the dark. He said that he was too old to cry, but it hurt too much to laugh. — Adlai E. Stevenson II

It is often easier to fight for one's principles than it is to live up to them. — Adlai E. Stevenson II